A gimlet is a

hand tool A hand tool is any tool that is powered manual labour, by hand rather than a motor. Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutter (disambiguation), cutters, File (tool), files, hammer, striking tools, chisel, struck or hammered tools, ...

for

drilling Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross section (geometry), cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary Cutting tool (machining), cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit i ...

small holes, mainly in wood, without splitting. It was defined in Joseph Gwilt's ''Architecture'' (1859) as "a piece of steel of a semi-cylindrical form, hollow on one side, having a cross handle at one end and a worm or screw at the other". A gimlet is always a small tool. A similar tool of larger size is called an auger. The cutting action of the gimlet is slightly different from an auger and the initial hole it makes is smaller; the cutting edges pare away the wood, which is moved out by the spiral sides, falling out through the entry hole. This also pulls the gimlet further into the hole as it is turned. Unlike a

bradawl A bradawl is a woodworking hand tool with a blade similar to that of a straight screwdriver and a handle typically made from wood or plastic. An wiktionary:awl, awl is any kind of small pointed tool. Purpose A bradawl is used to make indentations ...

, pressure is not required once the tip has been drawn in. The name ''gimlet'' comes from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th Anglo-French , a variation of "guimble", from the Middle Low German (cf. the

Anglo-Norman language">Anglo-French , a variation of "guimble", from the Middle Low German (cf. the ''OED">Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'', 2nd. Edition, (1989)

Use as a metaphor

The term is also used figuratively to describe something as sharp or piercing, along with describing the twisting, boring motion of using a gimlet. For example, the gimlet cocktail may be named after the tool. The term ''gimlet-eyed'' can mean sharp-eyed or squint-eyed. One example of this use is Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, who was known as "Old Gimlet Eye".

References

{{Authority control Woodworking hand tools Hole making

Use as a metaphor

Further reading

References